Among the Wildflowers
by Ai No Senshi
Summary: A Universal War takes hold, as millions are killed from hate. The queen of the Moon is murdered, and all hope is lost, until one girl, different from the rest, takes a stand.
1. Giving Her Up

A newborn child's cries filled a cabin to it's entiriety, filling every room with the sounds of a new life, and of a new cause for worry.  
  
The mother of the child fell back onto the bed, her body covered in sweat, her breaths coming out in short gasps. She closed her eyes, thanking the gods the hardest part was over. But no, she realized, it isn't.  
  
"She's beautiful, Selenity," the doctor said. He and his nurse would be leaving shortly, no one was supposed to realize where he was. The nurse took the child and cleansed her. Then wrapped her in a warm blanket, leaving only her beautiful face peeking out.  
  
Selenity took the baby and held her close. She looked down at the child, and was sure she saw her smile. But newborns couldn't smile, it had to be her imagination. She touched the child's forehead where a crescent moon shimmered. Another thing to be hidden.  
  
"Oh, small beauty, I fear that this miracle moment cannot last long. And I fear that I cannot hold you forever like I wish to do."  
  
"What do you mean, Selenity?" A senshi from Saturn said. This senshi was younger than the rest, and didn't always understand the situations that her friends and herself found themselves in.  
  
"I cannot keep this child," Selenity said choking on tears. Sobs crawled into her throat, almost causing her to gag. Shining tears formed in her eyes then fell softly down her cheeks leaving glittering salty trails behind them.  
  
The Guardian of Time nodded. She knew what the future held, and she knew the Queen had learned so too through a premonition.  
  
"I don't understand... Why can't you keep the Princess?"  
  
"Bite your tongue, Hotaru!" Setsuna said sharply. "This child shall not be the Princess ever!"  
  
"But-"  
  
"There are things," Michiru said gently, "that you do not understand, and will not understand until the time comes."  
  
"What time?!"  
  
All the Senshi looked at her, their eyes holding the wisdom she couldn't seem to find. Hotaru could not figure out why the Queen's child would not be Princess. For what reason could they possibly strip her title from her?  
  
"The time when this child will learn of her past," Haruka said. Michiru and herself both knew to trust Setsuna and the Queen.  
  
The nurse and doctor listened to the conversation, but looked away. They knew to never speak of a child born in a secluded cabin, born of the Queen of the Moon, heir to the throne. For a reason they couldn't find and may never do so.  
  
"You may leave," Selenity said to the doctor gracious enough to keep her secret, and the nurse would keep it also. They bowed and left the cabin, trotting away on horses.  
  
Finally alone with the Senshi, Selenity let everything out. The angel in her arms had fallen asleep, and did not stir even when her mother's body shook with sadness. The Senshi held Selenity close, but did not meet her eyes. Sorrow replaced the joyful feeling of new life.  
  
"What is her name?" Hotaru asked as the darkness of night replaced the light of day, it's eerie silence slowly surrounding the cabin.  
  
"Her name," Selenity said thoughtfully. She looked at the sleeping child. She looked so peaceful, so serene, despite the things that haunted her future.  
  
"Her name is Serenity," she said. She then laughed as the baby scrunched her nose up. "Serena for short."  
  
=======================================  
  
Three weeks after Serenity was born, the Queen sat in the shadow of a large tree, her baby in her arms, gurgling as the Queen made crazy faces at her.  
  
"Such a happy girl," Selenity laughed. The child did too, a glad little giggle that was deep within Serena, in her very essence. From the first time her daughter had opened her blue eyes, Selenity had known she was going to hold hope and happiness even in the worst of times. And she was going to need that trait in her future.  
  
"Selenity," Setsuna said. "It's time for us to go."  
  
The Queen looked away, but nodded. She'd been dreading this moment since the birth of her only daughter. She stood up slowly, still holding her daughter, desperate to keep her for as long as possible. She walked with Setsuna to a place where two carriages waited. One to hold Setsuna and the child, another to hold the Queen and the rest of the Senshi.  
  
Selenity stopped in front of her carriage, and looked down at Serena.  
  
"I'm sorry that you'll never know me, and I'm even more sorry I'll never get to know you," she said and she didn't cry this time. She'd promised not to cry. She didn't quite pull off the smile she was going for though.  
  
"Her crescent moon," Setsuna said.  
  
Selenity nodded. She touched the crescent moon on Serena's forehead with two fingers and focused her magic upon it. The moon didn't disappear exactly, it merely hid underneath the girl's skin, as it would for a long time.  
  
"And her hair."  
  
Selenity nodded again knowing all the things she'd have to hide from her own daughter. She touched the girls small amount of silver hair and then slowly it turned golden. Another thing gone, but not forever.  
  
"She's just a normal Lunarian girl," Selenity said with confidence. "She's six months old and her anonymous mother could not keep her. Her name is Serenity, Serena for short, and her last name remains unknown. She needs a home where she'll be loved as much as she deserves."  
  
The Senshi looked away the Queen's gaze, afraid if they met it they could not keep the emotions locked inside. They'd come to love the child too. Setsuna took the child from her mother's arms, and it immediately began crying.  
  
"No, Serena," Selenity said softly. "Don't cry, my beautiful baby. I'll always carry you within my heart, and I shall always be in yours."  
  
Serena stopped wailing, but the tears did not stop streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"It's time to go, Selenity," Michiru said quietly. Selenity did not answer, but stepped into the carriage awaiting her. Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru followed, waving good-bye to Setsuna and the only heir to the Moon Kingdom's throne.  
  
Or was she?  
  
====================================  
  
And in a year's time there was not only one Queen with a rumored miscarriage. But five. Every Queen between Mercury and Jupiter had had mysterious problems with their pregnancies, excluding the Earth. An evil plot? A horrible scheme? Black magic?  
  
Or maybe it was a sacrifice they all had to make. A sacrifice to possibly save the Universe.  
  
Author's Note: I know. I have other stories I should finish, but A Slave of His Heart will be finished tomorrow night and I couldn't wait to post this one! I'm really into it. Please review anyway. 


	2. Second Meeting

Eight long years had passed since Selenity had given up her daughter to the orphanage. She didn't know which family had been lucky enough to adopt Serena, and she didn't want to find out. It was a rainy summer day in which she was called to help an old and deathly ill woman that she finally saw her daughter again.  
  
It was Mai Tsukino who was sick, Grandma Tsukino to most who lived in the village called Crescent. She was in so much pain, the Queen could not ignore the calls for help. Not that she would've anyway. Her carriage pulled to a stop in front of a rather large home. Many children were outside playing, while their parents were inside helping and praying.  
  
There were a group of boys playing a rough game of tag, and a group of girls playing hopskotch and jump rope. But it was another group of girls who caught her eye. A group of five sat in a circle talking quietly. They looked too serious for eight year olds.  
  
She heard part of their conversation as she passed.  
  
"Poor Grandma," a blonde one said. She was biting her thumbnail nervously. "How did you know Raye?"  
  
Raye, a raven headed girl, looked guilty, "I don't know. It was just.... just like somebody told me."  
  
The Queen stopped in her tracks, not that the girls noticed.  
  
"Do you know if she'll be okay?"  
  
Raye looked away, "No, I don't think so. But I could be wrong!"  
  
A tall brown headed girl looked up at the sky.  
  
"It's going to thunderstorm," she said. She smiled.  
  
"I don't know why you always get so happy when there's lightening, Lita," the same blonde who was biting her nail said. "They scare me."  
  
Right then thunder rolled in the distant sky.  
  
"When will it be here?"  
  
"It'll start raining in two minutes, but it won't be lightening here for another five."  
  
The Queen blinked at the group. Lita, tall and muscular, and liked lightening. Raye, raven haired and beautiful, had premonitions. This long haired blonde was their link. A blue headed girl sat next to them, her nose in a book. She looked up at the mention of rain, and closed the book to gaze at the sky. Another blonde frowned.  
  
"You two look so happy," she said to Lita and the blue-haired girl. "Rain and thunder, what more could you ask for?"  
  
"Fire," Raye said laughing.  
  
"Love," the no longer frowning blonde said. She smiled brightly.  
  
"Happiness for everyone!" The other blonde said.  
  
"Wow, Serena," the blue-haired girl said, "You aren't asking for much!"  
  
They all giggled and finally noticed the Queen standing there gawking.  
  
Serena? It was her Serena with beautiful long golden hair and happy blue eyes. She felt like her legs were going to slip right out from under her.  
  
"Your Highness?" the blue-haired one asked.  
  
"Hello girls," the Queen said smiling. She felt a drop of rain hit the bare skin on her arm. Two minutes had past.  
  
"Amy! Amy!" Serena said joyfully, "Do your trick with the rain!"  
  
Amy smiled and put her hand out. Rain drops flew strangely into a giant drop of water above it. She then threw the ball up into the air and it exploded and fell like fireworks. Serena clapped happily.  
  
Oh my gods, the Queen thought, she's a Mercurian.  
  
"I want to do my trick!" Raye said. She put two fingers up and focused on them, her brows furrowing, her eyes never coming off the spot right abover her fingers. Slowly, a light appeared above them, like a candle. Then the flame turned into what looked like four candles. Raye smiled.  
  
"Wow, Raye!" Serena said excitedly as Raye's flame went out. "What about you Lita?"  
  
A Martian, Selenity thought. Raye's a powerful Martian.  
  
"Okay!" Lita said. She closed her eyes and held her hands out, cupping them slightly. Thunder rolled loudly right above them. Then a bolt of lightening flew straight down into Lita's hands. It disappeared quickly, leaving everyone disoriented. Lita opened her eyes and looked at the sparkling ball of electricity in her hands.  
  
"That's scary," Mina said frowning. "Lightening's dangerous."  
  
"So is fire!"  
  
"Can you do any tricks, Your Majesty?" Serena said through the arguement starting to form, her eyes reflected her curiosity.  
  
Selenity nodded and held her hand out to Serena. A silver light grew there, an orb shining brighter, illuminating the girl's curious faces.  
  
"Hey, wow!" Mina said smiling. "Serena can do that too!"  
  
The Queen eyes flickered up to Serena's.  
  
"Can you?"  
  
Serena nodded. She put her small hand out next to the Queen, and concentrated on it. A smaller silver grew there, but it grew. Stronger and bigger than the Queen's.  
  
"Don't strain yourself," the Queen said. "You'll lose energy."  
  
Serena looked at her incredulously, "But this is a small orb."  
  
Selenity stood back shocked. That was a small orb?! She didn't want to see a large one.  
  
By this time their clothes were soaked and sticking to their bodies. A parent threw the door open and stomped out.  
  
"Serenity Tsukino get your butt in here now! That goes for you girls too!"  
  
"Yes, Mother," Serena said sadly. She walked slowly inside, her friends following reluctantly. Selenity winced thinking, But I'm your mother. Not her!  
  
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I'll get you a towel."  
  
Selenity nodded, finally noticing just how wet she was. She walked in and looked at the group of girls. A Martian, A Mercurian, A Jupiterian, and A Venusian.  
  
And my daughter, she thought looking at Serena, is with them. She found her guardians and they found her. They are seriously meant to be near each other. Fate is taking control of their entire lives, yet they don't know it.  
  
Why not? she thought. Fate's taken my life too.  
  
It's taken it for the worse.  
  
====================================  
  
"Setsuna!" Selenity called as she returned to the palace late that night. She was drained from trying to ease Grandma Tsukino's pain. But to no avail.  
  
"Yes, Selenity?" Setsuna asked coming out of nowhere.  
  
"Everything has worked. Everything," she continued talking as she walked towards her room. Setsuna strode with her. "Our plan to put them in the Crescent worked. They've all been adopted, they're best friends, and they're happy."  
  
"You saw them?!" Setsuna said.  
  
"Yes, and she's beautiful. Serena is so beautiful. No crescent moon and golden hair, but she has the most lovely smile."  
  
"But you saw them?!"  
  
The Queen nodded.  
  
"And they're together?! And they're okay?!"  
  
"Yes, I told you that! They've even got their powers! Amy did a trick with the rain water, Lita and Raye could use magic too. Oh, and Serena has got the most energy I've ever seen in such a small child. Everything might work out after all."  
  
Setsuna stopped walking while the Queen continued on. Maybe it was better that she had seen them and thought everything would be okay. For the Queen had seen only one aspect of the upcoming doom, while Setsuna had seen it all. Not that the future was set in stone, but everything she'd seen had been horrible. Too horrible too even imagine.  
  
Author's Note: I hope this isn't moving too fast... but I need to skip years here and there until Serena turns sixteen. Then the real story begins. Yeah, this is like a really long prologue. But review anyway please!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	3. Wildflower Prophecy

"Serenity Tsukino, get your butt in here! I called twenty minutes ago!"

Serena rolled her eyes. At the age of thirteen, she already knew she was different from everyone else, including her parents. Couldn't they understand she needed to meditate?

Slowly Serena stood up, facing the setting sun, she turned to walk back down the grassy hill to where her family's home sat under the shadow of apple trees. There were two buildings actually, the guesthouse and the family's home. She walked in to her actual home to see her mother, father, and drooling little brother saying grace over the steaming food set in front of them.

She scooted into her seat and sighed. She'd miss the Earthrise again for three nights striaght, and it was at that time in which she could hear the best, that time and the time of the Earthset. She'd just have to wake up at dawn to hear.

"Serena?"

"Hmm?" Serena said. She absently ate bite after bite.

"When did you start to like broccoli?"

Serena looked at her fork for the first time, and at the minituare green tree stuck on it's end. She made a face and pulled the broccoli off the end.

"Never!"

================================

Serena pulled her cloak around her shoulders tighter and trudged through the grass topped with fresh dew. She came to the top of the dark hill and sat down, not watching the place in which the sun would rise, but watching the place where the Earth would set. She cleared her mind and waited.

Slowly whispers reached her ears, growing louder and louder until she could hear them like her own thoughts. Voices of the Moon telling her the secrets of time.

__

"There is a place among the wildflowers,

Where hopes and dreams have blooms,

Where night and day become only one,

And summer thunder booms.

Where you can find your inner self,

And your own magic too,

Identities can be revealed,

And gold becomes silver true,"

The new rhyme was swept away by the wind and replaced by one she knew by memory. But Serena didn't notice, for her mind was stuck on those eight lines she'd never heard before. Why did they seem so important?

The Earthset fully and the voices disappeared again leaving her world seeming too quiet.

She faced the golden morning and started back down the hill so that her parents wouldn't miss her. But her body faltered, and she stumbled face first into the grass, her legs crippling beneath her. She fell into the grass, the fresh dew coating her face making her unbearably cold. But she barely noticed.

Because she felt a pain sharp between her ribs, like a knife pushing into heart. It was a harsh pain like she'd neer felt before in her life. Tears fell down her cheeks that she didn't know she'd been crying. She curled up in a ball, trying to dull the pain, but to no avail. I'm dying, she thought. I'm dying all alone. She laid there weeping for what seemed like hours, screaming every so often in anguish. Until her father found her and scooped her up into his arms. He rushed her into the house, but they couldn't find the source of her pain.

"It's not my pain," Serena said wincing. "Something bad has happened. Something terrible."

The pain suddenly lessened, then disappeared. A tremendous weight lifted off her and a light feeling filled her body. She felt like her entire body was being lifted up into the air. And the tingling feeling she got when she formed the silver orbs filled not only her hands but every inch of her skin. She glowed silver for seconds, escpecially her forehead.

"Serena!" Raye called appearing in the doorway. She'd had a premonition about it. Mina, Lita, and Amy filed in behind her. They felt Serena change more than anyone else did. Finally the silver disappeared and Serena was crying.

"It's horrible!" she said. "The Queen is dead! I saw her. I saw her."

Her friends surrounded her and hugged her. They sat around her on the bed and started crying. They knew what Serena was speaking of was true.

"What are you talking about Serena?" Her mother yelled panicking.

"It is true," Raye said a glass tear falling from her eyelashes to her cheek. 

"The Queen cannot be dead!"

The five girls ignored the arguments and merely cried at the loss of a beautiful soul, and the start of a new and terrible thing. 

A neighbor appeared in the doorway bawling her eyes out.

"The news has spread. The Queen has been murdered."  
The Tsukinos started dropping their own tears, but they could not take their eyes off their sobbing daughter who'd shone silver and known the exact moment of the Queen's death. Was it sorcery? Or was it magic of the Moon? What to believe they could not decide.

"Let us go to the temple and pray," Serena's father said. The entire household trooped crying to the temple to pray for the spirit of the Queen. Church bells from the Moonrisen churches rang out, tolling their sadness out over the village. The only movement in the village was of that to go to the church of their choice. The sacred temple, or the church that bore crescent moon upon it's steeple. 

They came into the full temple and fell upon the floor to pray. Raye headed towards the front because she was the Priestess. Serena couldn't stand the sound of weeping, and crying, but it was not only that sound that was making her cry harder and harder. It was the screams echoing through her ears. The cries of anguish that no one heard. The Queen died alone, and Serena had felt her despair as she did so.

And the voices. The voices of the Moon were not waiting for the Earth to rise or set, they were speaking to her now. Telling her everything she would need to know, but somehow she couldn't proccess it. She couldn't remember what exactly she was supposed to do, though she knew there was something to be done.

That pain had been too much. But not only physically, but emotionally. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. Her mind ached with the memory.

"Serena!" her mother said gripping her shoulders.

Serena snapped out of her memories and realized the scream erupting from her throat. She closed her lips immediately and pushed herself back up into the kneeling position she'd been in before falling down and curling up in a ball again. 

Her friends looked at her with sympathy. Something had happened to her. Something to do with the Queen's murder.

What was the connection?

Author's Note: Okay, next chapter this gets serious. It's serious now, but no more year skipping after the next chapter. I wish more people would review because I'm seriously afraid that no one likes this story! Do you? Really? I mean I promise it'll be good! And Darien will make his entrance. I guess it might be a boring story. Sorry. Just review anyway. For moral support. I need it. 

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi


	4. Burning of Hope

A trill screamed bounced through the Tsukino home as Serena flew up in bed. Tears again. How many times had she'd awoken like this in the two years since the Queen's death? Nightmares were all she ever saw.  
  
"Serena, honey, another nightmare?" her mother said walking wearily into the room. Her eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?"  
  
Serena finished tying the drawstring in her dress and pulled her cloak around her shoulders. She then lit a lantern beside her bed.  
  
"It's starting tonight. My nightmares are becoming true."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Serena pushed past her mother and hurried for the door.  
  
"I've got to get to the village! They're in trouble."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Serena once again didn't answer and was long gone into the night before her mother could even reach the door. She ran as fast as she could towards the village, an orange blur in her vision. Oh no, she thought. This is worse than I thought!  
  
The temple was on fire, a flaming emblem of her faith and the discrimination against her religion that she'd received since the Moon Kingdom had been taken over by a Duke. Gods, she thought. This is horrible!  
  
The entire village was burning bright. No! Only the houses of those who belonged to the temple were flaming. She saw her friends in the middle of it all. She reached them quickly.  
  
"We've got to do something!"  
  
"There's no rain for another two days," Lita said. She looked almost terrified.  
  
"That's okay!" Serena said reassuringly, though she couldn't be sure. "Amy can call water. We can put the the houses out. We can save something!"  
  
"I can try and hold the fire back," Raye said. She put her hands out and drew the fire closer to herself. "I can do it! I can keep it away from everything else!"  
  
Serena nodded.  
  
Amy in the meanwhile had her hands out and water was forming there, in a huge droplet growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a small pond. She pushed it forward over a house and let it go. It dropped onto the house and the fire sizzled. But it wasn't all out.  
  
"Raye pull it away from the house! We can save that one!"  
  
Serena watched this and a feeling overwhelmed her. A picture snapped into her mind, and a voice whispered to her of danger. Her eyes flashed silver.  
  
"A little girl!" she breathed panicking.  
  
She ran towards the ends of a street and burst into a flaming house. Terror filled her heart, but she had to ignore it. It was the only thing she could do. The flames licked at her skin, but she pushed past them. And every time they met her a small silver explosion followed and she proved to be unharmed.  
  
She found a little girl sprawled across the floor and crying. Serena scooped her up and ran back through the house. Brushing right past the flames that were daring to consume her completely. She escaped the house and fell to the ground. A couple hurried to pick the girl up and almost thanked Serena, had she not been running to the other end of the street.  
  
It was an overwhelming feeling. So many flames, so many houses, she was only one person! She needed rain, please rain come! Two houses had been put out, but there were tens upon tens to go. No more lives are in danger, she thought. For the village center was overrunning with the people she would greet at the temple at times of prayer. No lives were distressed.  
  
Amy collapsed.  
  
"I can't do it! It's too draining!"  
  
Raye fell to her knees beside Amy.  
  
"The flames are too strong. They're being fed by too much!"  
  
Lita looked at the sky. "Something's happening."  
  
"What?!" Mina asked.  
  
"The rain is coming and quick. It'll be here in a day now."  
  
Serena closed her eyes. Please, yes! Let it rain! Give us a storm without thunder and rain for all.  
  
"Twelve hours!" Amy said agreeing with Lita. "The water's being called."  
  
"By who?!"  
  
Their eyes caught on a silver glow and they turned to see Serena. Her hair flying upwards, her aura flaring.  
  
"Three hours!"  
  
"She's calling it," Amy whispered. "She's calling the rain to put these flames out."  
  
"But how?"  
  
Raye sighed. "She's different. Her power is of all elements. Do you forget so easily when we called these powers, tricks? She could do everything we did, not as well, but just the same."  
  
They looked at her and a haunting echoing sound filled their ears.  
  
"Rain!" Came the exclaims. It poured and gray smoke filled the air as fires simmered down to nothing. Serena opened her eyes and yelled in happiness, her voice joining the hundred or so others. But it couldn't last forever.  
  
Finally the smoked cleared, the dirt turned to mud, and the people were too tired to rejoice in the rain anymore. They were forced to take in their surroundings. The many number of homes gone, the people hurt, the hopes damaged. The were forced to see the enemy they opposed. The number of unburnt houses were the ones containing the families of the Moonrisen faith, and there were more of those than the others.  
  
The were outnumbered.  
  
But not outspirited.  
  
====================================  
  
Serena walked in exhausted at dawn, her face charred, her hair tangled, her arms sore from lifting and carrying different things to save what they could. Then the time she'd spent healing those with blackened lungs had drained her of so much energy she could barely drag herself back home. She collapsed into the kitchen chair and laid her head in her hands.  
  
"Serena what happened?!"  
  
"They burnt the homes of everyone who attends the Temple, and the temple is no more. They're calling it Flaming Moonlight because they say everyone on Earth saw the flames from there. It wasn't only here in Crescent. It was everywhere else too."  
  
Serena's mother gasped. It was lucky they'd not had they're house burned. Luckily they were so far out in the country rather in Crescent.  
  
"It was horrible," Serena choked out. "Everywhere there were flames. And the children!"  
  
Ilene hugged her daughter tightly.  
  
"Honey, it's time I told you something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're adopted."  
  
Serena looked up at her mother and laughed. She was going hysterical it appeared and her mother pinched her slightly.  
  
"Ow! Mother, I never thought I was really your daughter. Never. I'm too different from you and Sammy and Dad."  
  
Serena's adopted mother looked hurt that her secret had been figured out so long ago. She thought it would be a shock, but then again Serena showed signs of magic that their family had never possessed.  
  
"But my birth mother? Who is she?"  
  
"I... I don't know. They don't have her name on file anywhere. It's as if she disappeared."  
  
Serena got a feeling in the pit of her stomach. No, she thought. She died. But who was it then? If she died, when? How? Why?  
  
The emotional and physical tiredness took over and Serena's eyelids started to feel like boulders were pushing them down.  
  
"I'm going back to sleep," she said yawning. She shuffled her feet into her room and fell upon her bed, almost instantly slipping into the quietest sleep she'd gotten in years. Literally.  
  
============================  
  
Since the temple had been burned all of those of the Temple faith began praying in the grassy field behind Serena's home. Raye and her grandfather even stayed in Serena's guesthouse, making Serena and Raye even more inseperable. They were almost always on top of the hill behind the field, sitting cross-legged, meditating, or as Serena told her mother, "listening."  
  
At the time of the Earthrise Serena could not be bothered, for she couldn't hear anything from the outside world because the Moon's voices were so thick and loud. Raye sat there with her, listening for anything she could. But without a fire she couldn't hear or see much.  
  
The wind tossed their hair backwards and sent it flowing through the air, also clearing thoughts to bring new ones. Serena listened intently, not wanting to miss a word of what she needed to know.  
  
"Serena! Serena!" Raye yelled into Serena's ear, shaking her shoulders. "Would you stop listening to the wind and listen to me?!"  
  
Serena opened her eyes slowly and glared at Raye. She opened her mouth to yell at Raye about stirring her during the Earthrise, but she was surprised to see the stars glowing and the Earth already in the sky.  
  
"What?" she said groggily. When did she get so tired?  
  
"I've been trying to wake you for twenty minutes. The Duke has issued a new proclamation."  
  
Serena snapped awake and ripped the paper out of Raye's hand. She read it quickly and trembled in frustration.  
  
"He can't do this!" she said standing up. "This is wrong! He can't take away our rights like that!"  
  
She reread the proclamation and shook her head. No Temple goers were allowed to have horses anymore, could not use the post system, and no househeld pets.  
  
Raye sighed.  
  
"But what can we do?"  
  
Serena's eyes got a faraway glint in them as she dipped deep in thought, but they returned to normal quickly.  
  
"Nothing!" she yelled. "Absolutely nothing!"  
  
Flame erupted from her fingertips and burnt the paper to a crisp. Raye stepped back shocked and Serena fell to her knees and started crying.  
  
And the night turned darker and darker as she wept. The voices even quieted to let her alone with her own thoughts. She was beginning to realize what was coming to be. And the sadness weighing on her heart was indescribable.  
  
Author's Note: Well, I bet you're beginning to see where this is going. But I urge you to keep reading (and reviewing!) Because this is going to be a very emotional fic, very long too! ^_^  
  
Until the next chapter,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	5. Third Lantern

Everything in the Moon Kingdom was going from bad to worse.  
  
Contacting the village was growing even more hard as the rain seasons came because the road was too muddy to travel. Listening grew hard too, for going outside was a hazard within itself and the rain washed all messages away.  
  
Now anyone of the Temple faith had to wear a red flame on their outer garments. It outraged Serena who'd recently found a way around the last proclamation. She'd set up a communication system. One lantern was put on the highest limb of the tallest tree if everything was okay. Two lanterns if there was a new proclamation, and three... Three if it was time to flee.  
  
Now besides no horses or pets you could not have a musical instrument. And all books or scrolls written by a temple-goer had been burned. Everyone's fear was deepening. Their rights were being stripped from them, they're temple had been burned, what possibly could happen next?  
  
Something completely and utterly horrible.  
  
The rain pounded hard today as Serena watched it from the guesthouse window.  
  
"I feel like something bad is going to happen, but the voices do not speak."  
  
Raye sat cross legged in front of the sacred fire, perspiration dripping from her forehead.  
  
"The fire knows of something evil, but will not tell of it."  
  
Their other three friends sat near the wall listening to the conversation and growing more worried with every word exchanged between Serena and Raye.  
  
"Is the rain going to end anytime soon?" Serena asked to anyone who would answer. Her power of the other elements were starting to fade and only came to her now in times of extreme anger, sadness, or happiness.  
  
"Not until tomorrow night," Ami said. A drop of water landed in her outstretched hand.  
  
"Ami," Mina whispered so that Serena could not hear. "You're not supposed to make leaks in the roof like that!"  
  
Ami shrugged, her apparent boredom taking over her better judgement. She twisted the drop around in circles before finally letting it drop.  
  
"Between these two happiness is almost not even an emotion," Lita mumbled. "All they do is 'see' and 'listen'. They're so busy living in the future that they've already forgotten the present."  
  
Serena looked at her friends from the corner of her eye and sighed.  
  
"You're right," she said turning to face them. "Raye get away from the fire."  
  
Raye's eyes opened.  
  
"Serena!" she began angrily, but soon stopped.  
  
Serena threw open the door of the guesthouse and ran out into the pouring rain barefoot. She jumped into a huge muddle of mud and it splattered up around her.  
  
"Come on!" she yelled to them as they stood frozen in the doorway. "It feels great between my toes!"  
  
Amy ditched her shoes and quickly ran out into the rain. The rain was manipulated around her, acting strangely as it reacted to her power. Lita came running next and a streak of lightening bolted across the sky.  
  
"They want me to go out into that?" Raye said pointing at all the mud and water. Mina smiled and nodded before leaving Raye alone in the doorway. Finally, and reluctantly, Raye stepped out into the wetness, flinching as a drop touched her. A lot of rain evaporated around her, but still drops met her skin.  
  
"See?" Serena said her hair sticking to her forehead and her clothes clinging tight to her skin. "It's great!" She began to spin in a circle, but slipped landing flat on her back in the mud. Everyone threw each other glances.  
  
"Are you okay?" Ami asked. Serena blinked twice and looked up at her. A couple of seconds passed and then Serena's face turned into an upwards smile and she began laughing. The others joined in, and soon their laughter was loud and real. Raye was doubled over in laughter when a big ball of mud hit her. She fell down at the force and looked up to see Serena with mud dripping from her right hand.  
  
"Why I oughta!" Raye said and hurled mud in Serena's direction, but unfortunately it hit Lita instead. And that was only the beginning. Soon everyone was covered in mud, looking like monsters from the deep.  
  
"I miss this," Serena said solemnly still sit in the mud.  
  
"Yeah. Me too," Ami agreed.  
  
"But even though things aren't the best, even though the Moon is ruled by a dictator, I think everything will be fine."  
  
"How can you say that Serena?" Raye asked indignantly.  
  
Serena shrugged.  
  
"It's just a feeling, and hope is one thing that isn't going to be taken from us."  
  
Her friends looked away. They're hope was already diminishing. Yes, they thought, it can be taken away from us.  
  
And it has.  
  
============================  
  
"We can't sit by and watch this happen!" Prince Darien yelled angrily. His voice bounced off the stone walls of the room.  
  
"Yes, we can," King Endymion said with just as much force as his son. "The Moon's business doesn't concern us."  
  
Darien's face burned red and he tightened his fists so that his fingernails almost broke through the skin.  
  
"They're invading Mars! How is that not our business? They're breaking the Silver Treaty!"  
  
"You don't have to tell me what they're doing! I know what is going on and I know that if we interfere we will be invaded as well! So hold your tongue!"  
  
Darien did keep his jaw tightly shut this time and he turned away. He left the room quickly and when he broke out into the hallway his deep blue eyes fell upon a young maiden.  
  
"Find me," she whispered to him, her silver hair glistening brightly. She looked odd and strangely beautiful. It was then that Darien realized she was a vision and transparent.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked. She looked at him sadly, her eyes mourning something he didn't understand. Then suddenly she turned and stared down the empty hallway. She stepped back shakily and slowly.  
  
"Raise the third lantern," she whispered sharply.  
  
"What?"  
  
She started running toward him.  
  
"Raise the third lantern!" she yelled. She was running directly at him and disappeared at the time in which she would have hit him. Her yell echoed down the hallway eeriely like a ghost.  
  
His spine shivered upon realizing who she must have been. A Moon Princess. Surely she was a ghost for the Queen had been murdered, and had no children.  
  
An idea struck him and his heart pounding three times as fast as usual. Maybe there was a Princess. Maybe there hadn't been a miscarriage.  
  
Maybe it was a part of plan and maybe he needed to help. He needed to join Mars and Mercury in the fight against the Moon.  
  
He needed to raise the third lantern.  
  
Author's Note: I know it's kinda short and it took a long time to get up, but there's been a lot going on lately for me. Morning swim practice, the dance, a funeral, fifteen thousand tons of homework, not to mention struggling with the decision whether or not to tell this guy I like him. (I didn't.) So, yeah. Enough with excuses, eh? Please review my story. Please? Aren't you happy Dare's getting involved? I am!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	6. Misty Cold Kiss

"Run!" Serena yelled pushing her friends in the opposite direction. "Grab the emergency bags and go. Take my family with you, and Grandpa. And hurry!"

"But Serena-" Amy started to protest, but Serena interrupted her.

"I'll meet you at the Hollowed Place. Now go!"

They listened reluctantly, Lita and Mina ran inside the main house and told the family who robotically grabbed their bags and trooped out into the rain. Raye and Amy came out with Grandpa holding a bag for themselves and Lita, Mina, and Serena. Then they ran together, the mud splashing against their legs, past the fields and into the protected forest.

Serena saw none of this however for she'd taken off towards the other forest line, chancing crossing the road which the Royal Knights were marching on. She hurried across the muddy road, throwing a glance in the direction of the marching boots. Luckily, they were still on the other side of the hill. She ran over the roots and broken branches, ignoring the fact it was lightening and she was in a forest. Finally she reached the tallest tree with a golden flame glowing from it's tallest branch.

She scurried up it, grabbing one branch after another, until she reached the branch nearest the lantern. She straddled it and put her hand inside the tree, pulling out two lanterns full of oil, and flint stones. She opened the first lantern and struck the stones together. Sparks hit the latern's wick and it glowed golden. She hung it next to the other lantern swinging the wind.

Then she shivered as she grabbed the other lantern, she was soaked to the bone and the winds rushed her, chilling her. She lit this lantern too, and hung it on the breeze. She looked down at Crescent, a few flames in the distance, but she realized with a horrible feeling in her stomach that no one would be outside in this weather to notice the lanterns. They'd never find out!

She rushed down the tree and ran towards the village, careful to stay hidden in the foliage of the forest. She reached the forest's edge and gulped. Entering the village would be suicide, but she had to alert them. The closest house was a quarter mile away and she prayed that her voice would be carried by the wind and reach them.

Then she swallowed, took a deep breath, and...

Screamed.

It was high pitched and loud, and was so blood curdling surely no one could ignore it. She held the scream out for forty seconds then let her throat be silenced. She waited, waited, then she heard yells from house to house about the third lantern.

She sighed, and turned around. The trip back to the Hollowed Place would be long, and she'd have to trod quietly, lest she be caught. She stepped carefully around branches which could snap, and she hid behind the giant trunks of trees. She walked on, avoiding the thorns that threatened to rip her skin open and let the crimson blood drip out. 

A half hour later she reached the road by her house, and it was riddled with muddy footsteps from the soldiers feet. They had long since passed, and had more than likely reached Crescent. She hoped the people had been swift in their movements to leave and that no one from the Moonrisen faith had interfered.

She crossed her road and gasped. Her home was a shambles. Windows had been bashed in, the doors busted down. No doubt the inside had been looted and was ramsacked. The guesthouse was the same. She moved past it, staying in the shadows it created. Then she took a breath before going into the open field where the chance of being seen was great. 

She stepped in though and moved steadily through the overgrown weeds slapping against her legs and dress. She threw glances in all directions as she went. The wind howled in fury and yelled to her:

__

"Fall down child and hide your face,

They'll hunt and kill and hate your race,

They watch with taunting evil eyes,

Your capture will be the Moon's demise,"

Serena fell quickly, the tall weeds covering her body. And she laid there huddled in a ball, her face half in the mud, her whole left side coated in it. She heard voices yelling and she felt the weeds rustling. They were crossing the field!

She held her breath, and closed her eyes, praying. She mumbled words of hope under her breath, even more quiet then the rain's ceasing fall. An hour passed and still she prayed, and the soldier's disappeared. She opened her eyes and searched the grayness around her. Not a living thing was in sight. So she stood up and ran this time, for the forest line that would keep her safe. 

She reached it in minutes, and upon making it into the shadowy glade she let out a sigh of relief. Now she had to find the Hollowed Place, and the great tree that would conceil her family and friends. Hopefully she could reach it before dark set and the cold windy night fell upon the Moon. Of course, she thought, as she padded quietly through the trees, the Earth would rise. And the Earth was a symbol of hope to her. She'd always gotten a feeling from the sapphire planet, a warm feeling.

She was deep into the forest now, and shadows were cast all through the trees only some lost light reached in and even those beams were scarce. A twig snapped to her left and she froze. Her breaths quieted and the Lunar landscape fell into a deafening silence. She could not even hear her heart pounding in her chest though she could feel it. 

She focused on her finger tips and let an orb grow there. She knew how to throw them now and the light would be enough for who to see who it was. She silently pulled her now glowing hand back and hurled a silver globe in the direction of the sound. 

A voice yelled, and she saw a head duck down to dodge the silver dart. 

"Raye!" Serena sighed. She was safe, for now and at last.

============================

"You must help us," a man said wearily as he fell to the floor. His head full of raven hair laid upon the ground, and his dark eyes closed. The Earthen Prince rushed forward and helped the man up, but he was unconscious.

"He's right," Darien said as a knight helped him get the man upwards. "We have to help Mars father. Jupiter has joined the fight, why can we not? The Moon is spinning out of control and it orbits us! We are responsible for any deaths our own satellite takes."

"We have no rule over that Moon."

The Martian man was taken away and Prince Darien's dark eyes burned in anger. He focused them fully on his father, and steadied his voice.

"I'll take the armies. We'll attack on the Moon's land. You can sit upon your throne and not fight, but I'll be on the front lines."

"No son of mine shall do any such thing!" His father raged, his face turning a horrible shade of red. But a voice in the back of his head laughed. You silly fool, it said. You turned the army over to your son when he turned eighteen and he's twenty one now! He can do as he says.

"But you forget I am the commander of our armies," Darien threw in his father's face." We may not declare war, but we'll be attacking."

And with that Darien turned and left his father, a smile tugging on his lips. He'd beaten the king for once and done as he pleased. He turned down and empty hallway and she appeared again. The Princess shining silver looked at him and smiled.   
"Thank you," she said and strode assuredly towards him. She reached his side, and his breath caught. Though he could see through her, she was beautiful. She stood on her tiptoes and her blue eyes closed, and her lips touched his cheek seconds before she disappeared. He stood wide eyed for moments, and touched the place were he'd felt a misty cold, the place the image had kissed.

And he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was doing the right thing.

Author's Note: It's a miracle! I updated something! I know, I know. But with swimming every night I haven't had any time to do anything but homework, eat, and sleep. Oh, and shower. But don't worry. Thursday is the last day. Please review!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi


	7. Hollowed Place

The Hollowed Place was one gigantic tree, big enough for two stories of living space. Serena's father and whoever he could find to help, had worked long and hard to empty the tree of it's innards so that it was almost completely hollow. 

The first floor had a kitchen with a fireplace even. Of course the chimney was as close to the ground as they could get it so that the smoke would be out of sight and blend with fog. Then there was one long table and a set of cabinets. Then a small commons area with two chairs and a few pillows. And two beds one for Grandpa and one for Sammy. And this was very, very cramped. 

Notches in the wall surved as a ladder up to the second floor that was sleeping area only. There was one double bed for Serena's parents, and then five small cot-like beds for the girls. There were natural holes through the bark so that the outside could be seen, faint glances of a world going through rapid changes.

As for the door of the Hollowed Place, it was wonderfully camouflouged. They'd put in hinges, and had carefully cut the outside bark so that it could be nailed to the actually door. So when it shut, the living and dead bark met each other beautifully, seamless without flaw.

Yes, the only drawback of this perfect hiding space was the fact they were in hiding. The girls, save Ami, were not content to stay inside. They all longed to be outside, to breathe the wind, to run among the trees like they were old friends. Their souls fought to stay calm, to stay inside and only peer outside through the knotholes. Serena was worst of all.

The first few days she was okay, very worried about the village, but calm as she laid upon her bed. The girls often stayed upstairs, out of sight, just playing with power or talking. Trying to keep themselves entertained, a challenge indeed. But then she became restless. Her eyes grew darker, and her skin itched to feel the untainted sun. Free spirit was an understatement. 

"I can't stand it anymore," she said plainly one day. They all looked up at her as she stood and made her way down the ladder. She walked towards the door, and it wasn't until then that they realized she intended to travel outside. She turned the locks on the door, and they rushed forward. They yelled at her to stop, but the door creaked open and she stepped outside.

The sun spotted the forest floor in brilliant patterns, it was warm and clear. The leaves were green with the spring, flowers bloomed wildly along the forest floor. She looked around and sighed. She spun in wild circles, the wind twisting around her, happy to have her back. And with the wind came the voices, that had been quieter the past week or so she'd been stuck inside. 

They whispered and she stopped to listen.

_"Some made it safe, some did not,_

Now they cherish all they have got,

They pray for strength and freedom too,

But most of all they pray for you,"

The wind quickened it's pace and new verses came.

__

"The Earth now has joined the fight,

And doesn't just shine only at night,

It protects the day, it searches for you,

It promises to start this Moon anew,

Now go back, child, inside your tree,

For they have caught sight of thee,

In the field they yell, they scream,

Go back, child, and join your team,"

Serena heard the yells then, of her fellow Lunarians, and she spun around. Her family and friends were standing in the doorway, faces frozen. She walked calmly forward, pushing them out of the way, and she swung the door shut. She paused before sliding the lock shut, and casting the freedom and sunlight away.

"Raye, stop the fire, but no smoke," Serena said. "They're coming."

Her mother fainted back into her father's arms, and he sat down on the floor holding his wife gently. Her brother sat down beside them, kneeling to pray and cry. Raye steadily wove the fire away from the chimney and slowly it disappeared. Her grandfather was praying, and soon only the five girls were left standing. Raye stood in front of the door, fire on her fingertips, while a faint rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance as Lita's hair raised in static. Mina and Ami ran up the stairs to peer out of a knothole, while Serena summoned silver orbs on all ten fingers.

They were ready for battle. Ready for war.

The inside of the tree fell into silence, and they listened to the voices surrounding the forest area.

"I saw a young woman! Search over there!"

"No sign of life anywhere, sir. No scraps, no burned out fire, nothing."

Through the knothole, Mina and Amy saw the commanding officer grind his teeth and curse. He called his troops off, and they started to leave after a few nerve wracking minutes. He paused before walking out of sight, and he glanced at their tree. He combed it over with his eyes, up to the knothole which they both scooted back from. But he turned and walked away, suspicions quieted. 

For now.

============================

Prince Darien stood up as soon as his ship touched ground on the Moon. He walked out to watch his troops deploy from ten other ships, all filing out and lining up, awaiting orders. A scout came running towards his ship. He seemed panicked almost, but his eyes held a fearful anger. The scout ran up to Darien, bowed and then looked up frowning.

"What is it?" Darien asked, feeling the man's tension.

"Well, I've been here for a few weeks now, Your Highness, and I fear it's worse than we could have ever thought." The man paused and looked away. "It seems, there is a higher meaning to this war than we thought. It isn't just for power, it's... well it's to kill."

"What? What do you mean?" Darien asked with a growing sense of fear at the words that were about to be spoken.

"It seems there are camps. I found three, filled from fence to fence with people. And, well they're starved to the bone. I thought... I thought I'd stumbled upon hell and they were walking skeletons. I asked a man who he was, and what was going on."

"Well, what did he say?"

The scout's eyes grew damp and he stared down at his hands.

"He said they were there to die. Anyone who attended the Temple were wretched, cursed, and they were sent there to die."

Darien's stomach lurched. What other evils was this satellite hiding? And among that evil, what good?

"What about the troops? Where are they?"

"The ones on this planet know naught that we are here, yet. They're raiding homes, and guarding the camps, or fighting the Martians on the other side of the Moon. We've got an advantage, and I say we use it. We can fight from both sides."

Prince Darien nodded.

"Let's go to battle."

Author's Note: Short chappie, I know. But the next chapter is going to deal mainly with the senshi and their emotions so it will probably be looonnnnnggg. I bet you can kinda see where this is going, can't you? Ah well. There goes suspense... Review please!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi


	8. Ghost? Vision?

No one questioned Serena nor blamed her, rather they looked at her with sympathetic eyes, knowing her hurt and her guilt. Two days after the soldiers searched the forest she sat upon her bed watching the candle burn away, hypnotized by the red and purple flame. Amy was laid back upon the bed next to Serena, counting the rings in the wood and calculating the tree's age. Raye sat on the floor doing tricks with candle flames while Mina watched. Lita was strewn out on another bed, staring off into space and keeping her thoughts concealed carefully behind her eyes.  
  
Serena blinked and took her eyes away from the candle to gaze at her friends, each of them alone with their own thoughts, and the silence dared her to break the spell it had cast.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" she asked Lita.  
  
The entire room jumped, save Raye who was too wrapped up in the magic to care. Lita looked up with sad green eyes and sighed.  
  
"A boy."  
  
This caught the attention of all the girls, Mina especially. Amy sat up as Raye sat down on her bed, while Mina sat anxiously on Lita's bed, her eyes showing her excitement to have a romance within the tree.  
  
"Who? Who?" she asked with full, attentive eyes.  
  
Lita looked away, and blushed. She closed her eyes, imagining the perfect face of Ken, and then took a breath to speak. She didn't notice how the rest of the room held their breath too.  
  
"Ken."  
  
Mina squealed with pleasure, but while she, Amy, and Raye smiled upon imagining the cute couple, Serena frowned.  
  
"But he's Temple faith," she whispered, though no one heard her. They were all too busy putting Lita through an inquesition. She wondered if he'd made it safe.  
  
"I miss him so much!" Lita exclaimed, holding back tears.  
  
"You're not alone," Raye said. "I, too, miss a boy." She paused, then answered the questions in their eyes, "Chad."  
  
They all giggled save Serena. Temple faith again.  
  
Mina spoke up, "Andrew."  
  
Temple.  
  
Amy blushed and whispered, "Greg."  
  
Temple.  
  
Serena cringed in pain. How crushed would her friends be if these boys turned out dead? Or imprisoned? Their hearts would be snatched away and broke into pieces. Why was the world so cruel?  
  
"How about you Serena, any boy in your heart?"  
  
Serena looked each of her friends in the face and shook her head.  
  
"No one."  
  
Her friends resumed talking and the tree melted away from them. They were out in the sunny fields with the wind in their hair, and the sky in their eyes. They were chatting about everything as usual, messing with the weather, laughing when someone told a joke. They returned to who they used to be.  
  
And Serena stayed the same. She remained quiet, alone in the tree room, and her words echoed through her head.  
  
"No one." No one would help them, no one cared for them, no one warmed her heart. She was alone, even seperated from her friends and the voices of the Moon. She curled herself up in a ball and closed her eyes.  
  
A face appeared behind her eyelids, an ivory face with ebony hair. Shadowed sapphire eyes were set above a most perfect nose, and full pink lips. His chin was strong and his shoulders were wide. His armor identified him as an Earth soldier.  
  
She zoomed forward into a new place. An open clearing was spread before her, trees lining each side. Earth soldiers marched in straight lines along side her, the sapphire-eyed man rode up on a horse, and surveyed the Lunarian land. She reached up and grabbed his hand. It was warm while she was cold.  
  
============================  
  
A shiver traveled down Darien's spine as he watched a hand appear out of nowhere and touch his own. He held his breath as he followed that hand to an arm and a shoulder and finally a face. He pulled his horse to a stop and looked down upon the Lunarian Princess.  
  
She looked different to him this time, her eyes looked and she herself was more solid. His troops stopped marching and gazed at the pair as he slipped from his horse to stand next to her.  
  
"What is it, Princess?" he asked.  
  
"Princess?" she echoed him, and cocked her head in question. She scanned him with her eyes and gasped.  
  
============================  
  
The golden vines wrapped around his dark blue armor, a cape drifting down from his shoulders, a large sword at his side. He was more than a general. There were four of those coming forward through the troops. No, he was the commander of this army and that meant he was royalty.  
  
She gasped and bent down on one knee, bowing her head.  
  
"Why are you bowing?" he asked. Why should royalty bow to royalty? A little bob of the head would do, just an acknowledgement. But bowing as if she was a citizen was unheard of.  
  
She looked up at him with full blue eyes, clouded with question.  
  
"You are the Earthen Prince, are you not?" she asked. Her voice was empty and sounded as if it was far away and echoing back to their ears.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"But you yourself are royalty of this planet."  
  
She stood abruptly, and looked straight into his eyes. He felt suddenly nervous under her gaze. She questioned him, and questioned her past. She'd known of the Queen's death, she possessed the same magic, she heard the Moon whisper. Could she be... Could the Queen be...  
  
"Serena! Serena!" was yelled in her ears, and Serena could suddenly feel her body. Her vision started to pull away as the Prince reached forward for her. She disappeared from his sight, and opened her eyes in the tree room.  
  
"You weren't breathing Serena!" Mina said. Her eyes showed relief and the remnants of worry.  
  
"Don't worry us like that," Raye scolded her.  
  
"The Earth's Prince is here," Serena said, ignoring their comments. "I saw him and the troops of the Earth."  
  
"A vision?" Amy asked.  
  
"No," Serena said. "It was more than that. I was there. He saw me, they saw me."  
  
The girls pondered this, while Serena pondered the man's words. Princess? Was it possible?  
  
============================  
  
Darien lurched forward to grab her, but she was gone. The troops rubbed their eyes and pinched themselves. His generals walked forward wide- eyed.  
  
"Your Highness, who was that?" Malachite asked.  
  
"Better question," Jedite said, "What was that?"  
  
Darien looked into the gray sky for an answer, but could come up with only his own.  
  
"That was a Princess of the Moon. A ghost? A vision? I don't know. But she's visited me before, and she'll come again."  
  
He remounted his horse.  
  
"Let's continue forward."  
  
And they did.  
  
============================  
  
Late that night, when the stars glittered in the sky like diamonds lost in velvet, an orange blaze burned in the forest. One of the Moonrisen faith that lived within the forest hurried to investigate as he heard a woman's scream. He heard a man's voice raise as well, commanding troops. Silver blasts and golden beams exploded around while lightening cackled in the air. It suddenly rained and smoke began to rise eerily.  
  
He saw troops seize an old man, and a young boy. A woman was dragged away along with another man, but five young girls stood in the flames, yelling, but their voices were drown out by the fire and thunder. Soldiers dropped upon being struck by lightening, or by one of the blasts of magic. And though he was quite certain these girls were in the flames, they did not burn. One seemed to throw the flames in fact, and everything was chaos.  
  
But someone fired an arrow and one girl dropped.  
  
Author's Note: Who is it? Who is it? I know! ^_^ Please review and you will know soon too.  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	9. Fiery Cries

Ai No Senshi

The Duke Braeden Lynalia had been among the Queen's advisors, though what he thought meant very little. It was the women from the Outer Solar System who had the most influence, if they even made a difference in the queen's opinion. She was her own woman.

The Duke- now dictator- despised that. He hated how she treated all her people the same, how she would visit the peasants like they were old friends. She seperated no one, kept everyone the same. But Braeden knew they were not equal. He was higher than those who lived in the streets, in their wooden homes, and their straw roofed shacks. He lived in stone and marble, mahogany and gold. He was certainly better.

He did, however, love three things about the Queen. The amount of trust she possessed, the fact that she had no heir, and that since her closest advisors were Princesses of their own planets, the next highest advisor would be the Moon's ruler. And that would be him.

Braeden's eyes had sparkled ruby red, like pools of blood, as he'd raised the gleaming silver knife. His mouth opened to reveal perfect white teeth, now looking like fangs. The Queen turned sadly towards him, slowly, slowly, raising her blue eyes to his scarlet ones. They grew wide in fear, though they held knowledge of what was going to happen. 

The knife came flying down, and ripped into her chest. She screamed in pain as blood poured forth from her. She put her hand up to the knife, and brought it down coated in liquid redness. 

"The Moon belongs to me now," he said to her, sneering.

In her dying breaths she cursed him.

"The Moon belongs to no one you evil bastard. The throne belongs to my..." she gasped, hatred in her eyes, and she tugged the air for words. "The throne belongs to my daughter."

And then she died.

============================

It happened in slow motion. The arrow sliced through the air, parting it like a curtain. It whistled as it flew, headed just a little to the left of it's target, and peircing the upper arm of Serena. Her eyes grew wide as she recognized the pain, and she fell backwards onto the dirt and ash.

The rain suddenly stopped as Amy rushed next to Serena. She took charge like she'd never done before while checking the wound.

"Keep the fire burning!" she yelled to Raye. She had to fix this before they were taken, and she was certain they would be. "Deep breaths, Serena," she said smoothly. She gripped the arrow with one hand and held Serena's with the other. And then she yanked the arrow free.

Serena's scream filled the night, and she held Amy's hand tightly. Her breaths came out short and shallow, and her head reeled with pain. Darkness spotted her vision and dared to pull her in. She wished it would.

Amy ripped a strip of cloth from her dress and wrapped it around Serena's arm. She tightened it so the blood would stop, but she couldn't stop the pain. 

"Hang on, Serena. Hang on."

At that moment lightening struck a soldier, and sent him flying back into a tree. Very few were left standing now, but the archer still held his arrows. Raye watched him draw the next and she tightened her fist around a bundle of flames. Her eyebrows knitted together in anger as she threw the fireball at him. He was engulfed in fire within seconds.

Mina continued to shoot beams of energy into the soldiers, but she was tiring and her aim was off. Her energy was gone, and a hollowness was growing inside her. Her eyelids drooped, her knees wobbled, until finally she fell into the mud, exhausted.

In her periphial vision Raye saw Mina fall. The priestess knew she was growing tired too, but fought to hold on. She kept the flames away from the trees and towards the soldiers, but the fire was angry and refused to die down.

Lita's storm was passing. The lightening bolts came few and far between now, her cackling energy disappearing. Upon seeing Mina fall, and watching Serena bleed, she could go no longer. She collapsed.

Amy stood up again, and brought the rain back. This time she brought it to kill the fire that Raye was loosing grip on. The fire simmered out, at least some of it, and the smoke irritated the eyes of the soldiers. Back ups were arriving until finally, with only one girl fighting, they could charge forward.

They took the exhausted Mina first, gripping her arms and trying to drag her away. She fought as hard as she could with no energy, blasting golden beams and taking two soldiers down. A man with a stone face came to her. His eyes glowed in the firelight and she held her breath in fear as his fist struck her head. Darkness welcomed her, and they took her away. 

Serena could see nothing, only hear yells and the cackling fire. She looked up at the stars, begging for help from something, someone out there. She whispered words and a wind caught them and took them to an Earthling's ears. He turned in his tracks and saw the orange glow cast upon the dark sky, and he set off in her direction.

Meanwhile, Lita threw lightening bolts at the soldiers pulling her up. They shook as their nerves were fried, and she elbowed and punched the few she could. Until a hard fist met the back of her head and she laid back down. The Mistress of Flames, as the soldiers were now calling Raye, yelled and yelled. She threw flames in every direction. She couldn't help.

Now Serena was surrounded by both Amy and Raye, something deep inside them telling them to protect her with all they could.

A soldier snuck up behind Amy and held a sword to her neck. She went with him at swordpoint, quietly and praying.

Tears of anger streamed from Raye's eyes as she watched her world fall apart. But it didn't do so around her, it simply fell on top of her. That's how it felt, how bad it hurt her. She knelt by Serena's side, and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, Serena. I'm sorry."

And then she was taken away.

"This one is wounded," a soldier said, appearing in Serena's vision. "She'll be of no use to us."

"Kill her then," said another. 

The soldier drew his sword and raised it. Serena's eyes grew wide as the sword came swinging down, down, down.

"Stop!" a commanding voice said. It was a rough voice. The face that matched it was stone, evil, dark. He scooped Serena up roughly, and started to carry her off. "All of these girls are of use. Did you not see the powers they held?"

The soldiers remained silent.

"To kill them would surely hurt our cause."

Serena looked up at him with her sad blue eyes and he shivered. Commander Olyn looked away, but could not ignore the feeling with the center of his heart, that he was holding a very important woman in his arms. With her charred face and her tattered dress, she possessed something strong and pure. He even dared to think that this girl may be royalty. A foolish thought, of course.

"Move out!" he yelled. Nine Temple prisoners were dragged, carried, and driven away. Nine people whose lives would never be the same. 

============================

A stump smoldered in front of him as Darien pulled his horse to a stop. He swung off, and walked through the wood and ash that was left. It was silent and empty in this place. Everyone who had been here was gone. He found peices of bed posts, clay pots, and paper. He picked up a scroll of parchment, burnt on the edges, and read the carefully scripted words.

_There is a place among the wildflowers,_

Where hopes and dreams have blooms,

Where night and day become only one,

And summer thunder booms.

He looked up at his troops, who were bewildered at what they were doing there. They also wanted to know what had happened. They all saw a splash of blood on the ground amidst the ashes, they all saw how the tree had been hollowed out. They saw the footprints in the mud, and the marks were people had been dragged away. They saw it all, and trembled.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long time with no update. We had nice weather. Please review!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi


	10. Camp of No Hope

Had he ever wondered about the daughter the Queen said was alive? Braeden certainly had, and he cast the thoughts away with a wave of his hand. Everyone knew she'd had a miscarriage, but had she? He thought of all the other "miscarriages". Had it happened at all?  
  
So, subconsciously, he kept an eye out for girls who resembled royalty, held power, or simply were stood out. Upon sending his soldiers out to collect the Temple goers, he issued a special order to his officers.  
  
"If anyone fights back with something besides fists and arrows, do not kill them. Ever." His eyes went faraway and saw the Queen's shocked face, her sapphire eyes, the scarlet blood dripping from his knife.  
  
"Bring them here. To me."  
  
============================  
  
Serena awoke with a jolt. She felt the pain first, and held back a scream. She felt her wound with her hand and found it to be soaked with blood. She closed her eyes, took a breath, then opened them again. She sat up, or as close to it as she could get, and looked at her surroundings. The building was more like a large shack, filled from top to bottom with rickety bunks not three feet apart from each other. She wasn't in a bunk, but a single cot. She could see sunlight through the boards, creeping in, but not providing any comfort or hope. The floor was dirt, smooth and hard from feet shuffling over it.  
  
Her friends lay to her left, each asleep and in cots, and her family and Grandpa Hino lay to her right. Her mother was awake and sitting up. Her back was to Serena and she was shaking. Serena sat up.  
  
"Mother?" she said, shattering the morning silence.  
  
Her mother turned, and showed a tear streaked face. Her eyes were red and puffy.  
  
"Oh, mother," Serena said. She came to her mother's bedside and hugged her. "Everything will be okay. Everything."  
  
"You fought so hard," her mother choked out. "So hard. I was helpless. Helpless."  
  
Serena looked away. "It isn't your fault. Or dad's or Sammy's. I'm just... different."  
  
"You there!" a voice boomed from the doorway of the building. He pointed at Serena. "Return to your bed and do not leave until told to!"  
  
Serena stood up, agruements resting on her tongue. She could fight him, just one. She could beat him. But there would be others. So instead she turned and walked with attitude back to her bed. She sat down upon it and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes, blocked the soldier and her mother out, and flew to the side of the raven haired prince.  
  
============================  
  
He sat in a tent, on a makeshift cot much like her own, and rubbed his face. His eyes looked saddened and he appeared stressed. She sat on the floor next to him and looked up at his downturned face. He jumped in shock and then slipped to the floor beside her. He acted less and less like a prince every time he was around her.  
  
"Princess, you're alive, aren't you?"  
  
She nodded, and her ghostly silver hair shook around her, creating an aura-like effect.  
  
"I tried to find you, but I came too late. Where are you?"  
  
"I don't know," her eerie voice echoed. Darien shivered. He grabbed her hand.  
  
"I promise I will find you. I'll save you."  
  
She smiled and a small silver tear came from the corner of her eye. "I'm not sure you can, my prince." She looked at the entrance of the tent where three generals stood frozen. The fourth had taken part of the army for a surprise attack. She nodded to them, then looked into the deep blue eyes of the Earthen prince. She captured them in her memory, then started to slip away from him.  
  
"Until the next time..."  
  
============================  
  
"Serena," came the sharp whisper and Serena's eyes flew open. She looked over to see her friends awake and aware. They all looked sad, and scared, and they needed her comfort. She wiped the single tear away, and smiled.  
  
"Hello," she said.  
  
A strange thing to say, but it broke the tension. She laughed. And they joined in. Soon they were all laughing in spite of everything that was going on.  
  
"Stop it!" a ragged voice yelled. "Stop it!" A little girl stood in the doorway of the bunk house. Silver tears were streaming from her eyes. "There's nothing to laugh at, nothing." This little girl had seen to much to laugh. The sounded was a horrible torture for her. Happiness she'd never have again.  
  
Serena stood silently. Her face fell in sadness and pity for this girl. "I'm sorry," she said at almost a whisper, yet the entire room could hear it. She took a step forward, and the girl shook her head, tossing her tangle of brown hair. Serena still walked forward until she reached the girl's side. She knelt down beside her and looked into the girl's brown eyes. The sorrow they held were earthshaking.  
  
"I know what you have lost," she said. Pictures flashed in her mind. A woman screaming, clutching the girl close to herself, and a soldier with a grim face. The soldiers yelled for the woman to release the child, and the woman would not. They nodded at an archer who drew his arrow.  
  
Serena flinched and hugged the girl.  
  
"I'm so sorry," she said and held the girl close. Tears spilled from her eyes and the pictures wouldn't stop. Another child lay in the mud, motionless. Serena begged for them to stop. And they did. At her expense.  
  
A large stick slapped against Serena's shoulder blades and forced her to release the girl, who ran out of the reach of the guard. The stick then hit the back of her legs, knocking her to her knees.  
  
"Get off her!" Raye yelled, and ran at the soldier, flames drawn and ready. This private was quick, though, and dodged the fire. He swung the stick around and hit Raye behind the knees, causing her to fall. By now, the rest of her friends had come forth. They got ready to defend her. Lita's hair raised as lightening cackled in the sky. Rain began to fall, and Mina shone golden.  
  
The private stepped back in fear.  
  
"You're... you're the ones with power!" He pulled a whistle to his lips and blew three sharp calls. Within seconds the entire camp laid on the ground while reinforcements came to back up the private. Serena had stood up by now and she looked peaceful between her friends, each angry. She held her hand up.  
  
"Don't."  
  
The girls gave her surprised looks, but tucked their powers away. They stood to her sides like one group. The soldiers all had a fear of these girls. The rumors had spread about their powers but no one really belived them. Until now.  
  
Commander Olyn stepped to the front of the group and looked at the girls.  
  
"Line up," he said to them. "Outside. Now."  
  
They did as they were told.  
  
"You will not move," he said, "until I release you. Powers will not be used here. Ever."  
  
Protest was held tight in their throats and laughing thoughts. How was he going to stop them? Five swordsmen lined up behind them, close enough so the blades could tear through their backs.  
  
"Move, and you die."  
  
They stood facing the west, straight and tall, bare feet sinking into the new mud. They stayed quiet, the thoughts in their mind all the company they could stand. They watched the orange globe of the sun sink slowly behind the horizon. Hunger rumbled in their stomachs and fatigue riddled their bones. Serena's shoulders and legs hurt where welps and bruises were growing.  
  
The sun fell and they were left in darkness. They'd seen the people of this camp. All were thin and dirty and kept far away from them. The little girl had only given Serena a glance before running off in fear.  
  
Commander Olyn returned when darkness had fallen for two hours. He looked at all of them.  
  
"You can relax now."  
  
They all did. Serena fell to the ground to sit immediately, while the others did so slowly. Serena looked at her arm which ached tremendously. She needed to heal it, and the others. But no powers meant no powers she was finding out.  
  
"Come on. You're leaving here."  
  
They all looked up at him.  
  
"But my family..."  
  
The commander gave her a sharp look. "We both know they're not your blood. Come on."  
  
They stood up reluctantly and followed. Lita had trouble keeping the electricity inside, her hair was having a tendency to rise. Raye as well had sparks bouncing from her fingers. Mina's clenched fists were tinted gold. Serena's hand was completely silver, she did not mask the growing orb there.  
  
"How dare you," she whispered. "How dare you insult me like that! It's not the blood, it's the heart!"  
  
Commander Olyn turned, his eyes wide as she raised her hands. She pointed them at him, making the night glow. Her face was twisted into anger, her blue eyes determined. She would have fired then, sent him flying back into the fence that was caging her in, but he had turned away, closing his eyes and shaking his head.  
  
Olyn's mind was busy processing what he could not understand. The power was the same, her face the same angry look the Queen's used to take on. To turn her in...  
  
"Put your magic away. To kill me would not help you."  
  
Serena's eyes widened and the silver disappeared.  
  
Olyn turned and looked straight at her. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to give you three days before I turn you in."  
  
"Turn us in?"  
  
"The Duke has commanded that all those with powers be turned in to him." He looked at the sky, the darkness of the night. "You have three days to form a way to escape, or to be killed. I don't care either way. Now return to your bunks."  
  
"Wait," Serena said suddenly. "Can you tell me where we are?"  
  
He looked at her and cocked his head. "Twenty miles south of Crescent. Why do you wish to know?"  
  
Serena did not answer, but as she turned to go back to the cold cot that would be her resting place she whispered to herself.  
  
"To tell our liberators."  
  
Author's Note: I updated, finally. I've just had so many revisions of this chapter it took me forever to scrape this out of it all. Please review! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. It shouldn't be too long.  
  
And I really haven't clarified how long this war has gone on, I'm sorry. The Night Of Orange Moonlight was in early fall, and the war was underway right after that. They went to the tree in the late spring and stayed in the tree for about two months. I know, I'm bad at time. So basically, it's summer now. The war has been going on for about ten months.  
  
Sorry 'bout that.  
  
Oh, and I need your help. My summary of this story isn't drawing readers as it should. If you happen to be good at summaries, please send one to me for this story! My e-mail is ainosenshi_2001@yahoo.com. I would appreciate it very, very much!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	11. Rhythmic Chains

By noon of their first day Serena was already glad she hadn't been caught earlier. Because they were not allowed to use their powers, they had to have their hands chained behind their backs. Of course then they could do no physical work, so they had to march around the perimeter of the camp. They were quiet as they passed guard houses (Lita had been beaten for talking earlier), but once they were out of hearing distance they would whisper plans of escape.  
  
"Those idiots," Raye muttered. "I can melt these chains away into nothing. If I wanted to escape they could not stop me."  
  
"We need not worry about escaping," Serena said. "Our liberators will come."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
Serena, who was at the front of their marching line, just looked over her shoulder with a glint of mischief in her eye. It was both unsettling, and good to see it there. They passed a guardhouse and looked down. They feigned fatigue and desperation. Once out of hearing distance they started up again.  
  
"I don't like that look," Mina said.  
  
"Just trust me."  
  
"Tell us, and we'll trust you."  
  
Serena gave them a look. "Air does not tell you if it will be there to breath, but you trust that it will be there. Trust me the same way."  
  
They rolled their eyes and looked away. However, this was not a solution. To look away from the back of the next person's head was to go from a dreamless sleep to a nightmare. They would have to face the people of this camp, the tired, hungry, hard-working innocent people forced to do the labor of their enemies. They quickly turned their eyes back.  
  
Raye wondered to herself how Serena did it, for she had no head to look at. Only people. They'd been marching since before the sun appeared in the sky and now it was straight above them. No shadows were left and it beat down upon their shoulders. Sweat coated their skin, and their clothes stuck to them uncomfortably.  
  
They recieved lunch soon, though they had to stand while eating. If you could call it eating. They got a hot bowl of mud-colored soup, and a chunk mushy bread. It was Mina's good fortune to get a peice of meat in her soup, while Raye lucked out and found a baby carrot.  
  
Then it was back to the boring, grueling task of marching around the perimeter. Their chains were getting more and more heavy, and clanked together in a rhythm that soon got stuck in their heads. They got another round of soup and bread and then were sent back to their cots. They stood in front of the makeshift beds, still chained, and waited to be released from them and sent to sit down. Their legs and feet ached, for they'd surely walked miles.  
  
Commander Olyn came and walked in front of them. Lita took a chance and spit behind him as he passed. It narrowly missed his boot.  
  
He looked at the spot where her spit was sitting then looked up at her. "Aren't you going to share?" he asked. "If you can spit on me, you can spit on each of your friends as well."  
  
Lita turned to them and frowned.  
  
"Well, come on! Spit!"  
  
The whole bunkhouse turned to look at them and craned their necks to see what she would do.  
  
"No," Lita whispered after tension-filled silence.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said no!" she yelled.  
  
"No?"  
  
"No!"  
  
Commander swung around and cuffed Lita in the ear. She fell, causing the rest of them to topple off balance. She looked up at him and her face wrinkled in anger. Her hair started to raise with static electricity and a faint rumbling of thunder could be heard. It crescendoed, louder and louder, until it seemed to be in the room with them. The women in the bunkhouse hid behind each other, and gripped themselves.  
  
"Lita," Amy said gently. "No lightening."  
  
Lita, however, did not listen. Olyn pulled a baton out of his belt and raised it. He started to bring it down when Serena yelled.  
  
"Stop!" she screamed, and her voice echoed with power. Her own hair start to raise and her aura flared. Olyn stopped, and turned his head to look at her, aglow with magic.  
  
He knew he should finish swinging. The punishment was right, but he could not ignore her. The anger, the hurt, everything inside of her rippled through the air. It hit everyone at the same time their hearts pulsed.  
  
Serena felt stronger than she had even been, and she sent magic through her hands. The metal cracked, then shattered like it was glass. She brought her hands out and stood freely, independent and alone. She let her powers dissipate and her aura disappeared.  
  
"Take not your anger out on them, but me instead."  
  
He shook his head and released the rest of them from their chains. He began to walk out, stopped, and then turned.  
  
"You better get out of here fast," he said. "Because I can't keep you here forever."  
  
They nodded, and he melted into the dark of the night. They all slipped into their cots, and fell asleep almost immediately.  
  
Except for Serena.  
  
Her mind went out across the fields and forests, to the Prince. She found him sitting in his tent once again, for their whole camp was silent. He looked up at her and smiled a small smile.  
  
"We're twenty miles south of Crescent," she said to him. He looked surprised.  
  
"You found out your location?"  
  
"Yes. But you have only two days to get here and then I will be gone."  
  
He nodded. "We're about ten miles north of the village Crescent."  
  
Serena gasped. "My home..." She flew from the tent and looked around the field they were staying in. A hill stood in the distance. She ran, closely followed by the prince, up the hill and over it. There they sat, the guesthouse and her home. She hurried down the hill and into her home. It was still in desolute condition, dust coating the broken chairs and more.  
  
The prince stepped in behind her.  
  
"You lived here?"  
  
She nodded. She walked silently around the home. The memories laying under the dust rose up like ghosts and she savored them. The life that she once had, everything that used to be so good; they were all in this house. She looked over both the up and downstairs, and tears started to fall from her eyes.  
  
Darien watched them cascade over her eyes lashes, then drift down her cheek. He took a step forward and touched her cheek with his hand. He wiped the tears away with her thumb.  
  
"I'll be there tomorrow. I promise."  
  
She leaned into his hand. It was warm and fit her cheek just perfectly. She suddenly found herself with her arms wrapped around him, her face pressed into his chest. He laid his hands tenatively on her back, and stroked her hair. She longed to stay there, for it was comforting, but her body was tugging on her to return. She looked up at him through tears and whispered a good-bye.  
  
And then she was gone.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry it took sooo long. I've been a teensy bit stressed lately. I know it's short, too, but I couldn't go any farther right now. I promise to get the next chapter up ASAP, but I wouldn't expect any time before Saturday night. Please review!  
  
And thank you to XenaTBear for the summary!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	12. Liberation Comes

"Get up! Get up!"  
  
The guards' rough voices crashed into Serena's dreams, which for once were good dreams. They were old dreams and memories of her other life, her real life. She had no time to think about those glorious dreams though as she lined up in front of her bunks. Her friends got up as fast as she did, and they all regretted it. Serena had never felt so stiff before in her life.  
  
All of the other prisoners filed out to be counted, then sent off to work, but the girls stayed there. Serena's mother looked at them with sad eyes as she filed out. Serena could see how much this was hurting her, but could do nothing to help it.  
  
Commander Olyn came in after everyone was gone and had each of them shackled. He then led them out to start their march. He marched with them for awhile, up by Serena. She looked over at him, scrutinizing his every feature. He made the mistake of meeting her eyes, and then she could pick through his soul.  
  
He felt vulnerable as those blue eyes searched him. She found his weak points, his strong points, all his dreams and nightmares. She found his loved ones, and his enemies. She then turned away, staring straight ahead, always marching. He stopped and let them pass. Not only had she searched him, but she'd told him something. She was leaving the camp that very day, and taking everyone with her.  
  
Serena continued marching, every once in a great while she spied her family. Her father was drenched in sweat and his hands were bleeding. Her mother told her blisters had formed on his hand where he'd held the shovel. His job was to dig graves. Serena shivered. Many were dying of sickness and fever. She could feel disease around her every moment.  
  
Not only was disease devouring the people, but the guards were as well. If you faltered, even for a short time, they would take you away. Since they marched the perimeter of the camp Serena had seen what they did once they took you away. A hot tear slipped down her cheek. They would stab you, or set you in front of an archer. And then your body was hauled away to the grave. The grave her father was digging. Sammy dug as well.  
  
Her mother had a little bit easier work. She made bandages for the soldiers and would repair any torn uniform. But her mother was never particularly skilled in sewing, and without a thimble her fingers were dotted with blood. Her hands grew tired, and so did her soul.  
  
Serena marched on, ignoring the screams from her left. They witnessed another murder. She'd never forget this, she decided. And she'd never let anything like this happen again.  
  
============================  
  
Darien's troops were marching through Crescent. Some people spat at him from their upper windows, or threw rotted fruits. His generals itched to run those people through, but Darien stayed calm. Not many were angry with them for the war had effect on even the Moonrisen faith. It was their sons and husbands and fathers and brothers who were fighting and dying on the battle field. The war was losing support rapidly, and the Earth was gaining it.  
  
They made it through Crescent without any major problems and from there it was a guessing game. They traveled all day long, from before dawn to after dusk. Finally they saw lights in the distance. Floating flames or so it seemed. They found that it was the camp, and Darien's heart started beating faster.  
  
They came to the gates, swords drawn, arrows nocked, and demanded that it be surrendered. A Commander met them, and a hundred or so troops. But they were sorely out numbered. Darien's troops numbered in the thousands.  
  
"Commander surrender your camp and we'll negotiate terms."  
  
"I'm afraid I cannot do that."  
  
"There is no reason to shed blood here, now surrender your camp!"  
  
The Commander got a weird twinkle in his eye. "She called you, didn't she?"  
  
Darien was taken by surprise. "Yes, the Princess did."  
  
"Princess?" the Commander said. "Don't you mean Queen?"  
  
Both sides of the battle lines whispered and mumbled. The Prince and the Commander didn't stop to notice.  
  
"I will give her to you if you let me keep my camp."  
  
Darien had seen how the Moon Princess or Queen had grown tired so quickly, how she'd grown more thin within just three days at this camp. He'd heard all the terrible reports of walking skeletons. He made his decision quickly.  
  
"The entire camp is liberated tonight."  
  
Commander Olyn shook his head. "I can't allow you to do that."  
  
"Then prepare for battle."  
  
============================  
  
Serena heard the troops gather and the guard left her bunker. She called to her friends and they hurried to the door. They watched as the Prince and Commander Olyn talked. They couldn't hear the words, but the expressions on the Prince's face were enough.  
  
They saw the Earthen army raise their swords into charge position and Serena looked at her friends wide-eyed.  
  
"Come on! We must help!"  
  
They ran out as fast as their sore legs could carry them. They lined up behind the camp guards and raised their powers. When the soldiers felt rain on their heads and heard the thunder, fear poisoned their hearts. The Earthen army saw silver, blue, gold, red, and green glows coming from behind the camp guards and were afraid there was sorcery invovled.  
  
"Olyn!" Serena yelled, her voice boomed like the thunder above. He turned to face her and her friends. His troops were surrounded, great power on one side, and sharp swords on the other. "Surrender the camp!"  
  
Olyn sighed. It would be a waste of blood and man to fight a skirmish, but he was not fond of becoming a prisoner either.  
  
Serena, sensing the reason for his hesitation, called out on the behalf of the Earthen army. "We will grant your guards freedom to return to their families, and let them keep their swords. Just free the camp."  
  
The commander thought the terms over and drew his sword. He turned to Darien, and held his sword out, handle first. Darien took the sword and raised it over his head. Yells of triumph came from all around, and the rain stopped. Serena and her friends' auras disappeared.  
  
Part of the Earthen army, a small part, filed in and started procedures to take over. Darien rode through the crowd and dismounted his horse in front of Serena.  
  
"Princess," he said. "I meet you at last." He noted her hair in the Earthlight. "Your hair is golden."  
  
"I am no such Princess," Serena said. "And my hair has always been gold."  
  
Darien furrowed his brow, certain that her hair had been silver every time she had appeared to him. The crescent moon that had always adorned her forehead was gone as well. He almost doubted who the girl was.  
  
"But we need formal introductions," Serena said. "I am Serenity Tsukino, Serena for short." She held out her hand.  
  
Darien took it and kissed it like a gentleman. "I am Prince Darien Shields of Earth. Commander and Chief of the Earthen Army." He pointed behind him. "Malchite, Jedite, Zoicite, Nephlite."  
  
Serena introduced each of her friends in turn. "Mina, Raye, Amy, Lita."  
  
"Serena!" her mother's call came. Her family, each looking battered and tired, came running to her. She hugged her mother and kissed her father's cheek. Even Sammy was willing to share in the reunion, hugging his sister.  
  
"This is my family." Serena said. "Mom and Dad and Sammy." She paused. "Mother, Father, this is Prince Darien of Earth."  
  
Her mother blushed as Darien kissed her hand, and her father and brother puffed up their chests. The entire camp was filing out of the bunks, hugging and kissing their liberators. Fires were lit in great rejoicing and the whole came was lit up. People fell to their knees and praised the gods. Raye's grandfather helped lead in prayer.  
  
Serena stopped for a moment to look around and take in her surroundings. She looked at the families hugging each other, the tears of joy, the ones praying. She heard singing, prayers, and yells of happiness. She looked at the Earth and was surprised to find the comfort that she usually got from it was not there. She looked at Darien's strong face and firelit eyes and realized why.  
  
Her comfort was here.  
  
Author's Note: Once again it took me awhile and it's short. But it was like I couldn't write for days and then suddenly I couldn't stop. There should be two or three more chapters. I'm not sure yet. Please review!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	13. Four Queens

The morning was unusually cool and veiled by a layer of fog. Serena gazed upon it in wonder. Around her were dozens of tents, each containing her liberators. The grass was wet with dew and she remembered the morning the Queen had been murdered. Questions still burdened her about that morning. She felt they would be answered soon.  
  
Voices reached her ears, and from them she took comfort. It'd been so long sine she'd really been able to listen to them. They repeated to her the rhyme she'd heard that fateful morning. It was louder this time. She recited it with them from memory.  
  
"There's a place among the wildflowers,  
  
Where hopes and dreams have blooms,  
  
Where night and day become only one,  
  
And summer thunder blooms.  
  
Where you can find your inner self,  
  
And your own magic too,  
  
Identities can be revealed,  
  
And gold becomes silver true."  
  
A footstep fell behind her. She whirled around to face Darien. After long hours of persuasion, she'd gotten places in the army for her friends and herself.  
  
"That's a beautiful rhyme," he said.  
  
"It's not mine."  
  
"Who wrote it?"  
  
Serena turned to face where the sun was coming up. Soldiers started coming from their tents, stretching and wiping sleep from her eyes. She answered him so quietly he barely heard it.  
  
"The Moon's."  
  
He was puzzled by her answer, but she was ever illusive. She slipped into her tent to wake her frineds, and prepare for the day. They were marching towards the capitol, and were not very far away. It had been two weeks since she'd been liberated. Her family and the rest of the prisoners at the camp had stayed there until more Earthen soldiers came. Those soldiers brought food and supplies. They were now guarding the camp from outside attack instead of vice-versa.  
  
Soon everyone was up, and the tents were disappearing from sight. The girls packed theirs away and Raye slung it on her back. Each one of them had a backpack. In Amy's were medicines and bandages; in Mina's clothing and blankets; in Lita's foods and things to cook it with. In Serena's bag was parchment and inkwells, arrows and quivers. They marched near the front because they were some of the most powerful soldiers capable of protecting themselves. Darien felt guilty riding his horse above them, but the girls refused to act like ladies.  
  
"How far are we from the capital?" Serena asked. "How long?"  
  
Darien looked down at her. "We shall arrive there today."  
  
====================================  
  
The Duke was furious. He knew what was coming. Three armies. One from the Earth, one from Mars, one from Jupiter. They would all arrive at his palace at different times, but within two days. The Earth was closest and the strongest.  
  
Braeden strapped his sword around his waist, and a bow and quiver on his back. He strode out of his palace and thousands of troops snapped to attention.  
  
"Men, it is your duty and your responsibility to protect this capital with all your might, even if it takes your life. I expect you to fight hard and kill all you can. Now let's move out."  
  
The Duke mounted his horse and strode out in front of his troops. They'd meet the Earthen army and defeat it. He was sure he would win for he had the larger army and more strength. He'd heard the rumors of five women traveling with the Earth's army. He heard each of them possessed magic. He laughed at that. Magic? Magic was dead.  
  
He sneered in delight. The Universe was his for the taking.  
  
====================================  
  
The Earthen army had fought twice in the two weeks Serena had been there. Each time she would wear herself out healing the wounded, but it was worth it. They won each battle.  
  
Now they were going to fight the biggest battle of all. They'd marched through the Moon's forests, and now were in the fields. She could see for miles on all sides. It was an amazing feeling being swallowed up in that big sky. They paused for a break when the sun was high in the sky.  
  
She sat down in a circle with her friends and Lita cooked them a meal of warm, doughy bread, and hot, thick soup. They all took their time eating it, savoring each wonderful bite.  
  
"May I join in?" Darien asked. Serena patted the ground beside her and he sat down. Soup and bread were shoved into his hands. He took one bite and groaned. "This is delicious."  
  
Lita beamed with pride.  
  
Darien surveyed the group of girls, each beautiful, each mysterious.  
  
"Just where are you five from?"  
  
"Crescent," Amy answered.  
  
"Were you born there?"  
  
The girls all looked at each other, then at their soup.  
  
"We're... We're all adopted," Serena answered him finally.  
  
Darien almost gagged on his soup. Could it possibly be true then?  
  
Horse hooves pounded in the distance, and came closer. There were four horses, dots on the horizon, spraying dust in all directions. As they drew closer, Darien was surprised to see they were women. He stood to greet the four... Queens?  
  
The Queens of Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto dismounted their horses and nodded their heads to the Prince.  
  
"Prince Darien," Haruka said, "we have come to help you."  
  
"The Royal Army of the Moon approaches quickly," Hotaru said. She was grown now, a mature woman.  
  
"We have little time left," Setsuna warned. "They will be here at dusk."  
  
Serena, who had been eavesdropping, stood too. The four Queens glanced at her for a brief second, but were forced to look again. Their mouths fell open and they stared. Every feature of this girl matched the Queen's, minus the hair color and crescent moon.  
  
"Who is this?" Michiru asked. Her eyes never left the girl's face, and Serena started to blush.  
  
"I am Serena."  
  
They had two urges at the moment. The first was to bow, and the second was to faint. Could this really be happening? This was Serenity, Serena for short?  
  
Serena looked at Darien, then at the gawking Queens. She felt suddenly nervous. "Is... Is something wrong?"  
  
The Queens shook their heads and closed their mouths. Hotaru even smiled, for once being more percepitive than the others.  
  
"Everything is perfectly right."  
  
Author's Note: Sorry, it took me so long to update this. I had this written a long time ago, actually, but I didn't like it very much. So I had to revise, and by the time I got that done I couldn't find time to post anything. I work a lot and when I'm off I usually go somewhere. But here it is finally. Please review.  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	14. Silver True

They packed away lunch and continued marching towards the capitol. Now the front lines consisted of four Queens, four Generals, a Prince, and five girls with extraordinary powers. The Queens kept their powers concealed until the time when they would have to use them.  
  
Dusk was approaching when a line of figures appeared on the horizon.  
  
"The Moon's army!" Serena gasped. It spread through the men, and slowly they prepared for battle. They dropped their packs in piles and pulled their swords and arrows. Lines of charging swordsmen appeared, and the archers dotted those lines while forming their own.  
  
The Moon's army came into clear view, and formed their own lines. The auras of the girls flared up, while the Queen's kept theirs dim. Each pulled their own weapons, though. Michiru held her mirror, Haruka her sword, Setsuna her staff, Hotaru her glaive.  
  
"Remember," Setsuna said quietly to her fellow senshi, "this is what Selenity died for. This is why she gave up her child. This is why we are here."  
  
They all looked at Serena, who was glowing silver, her eyes determined and sharp.  
  
"We are here for the former Queen," Michiru said.  
  
"And here for the new," Hotaru finished. She finally understood. Never would Serenity be Princess because when this fight was over she would be Queen. They looked at the Duke Braeden Lynalia who had once been one of them. They knew of his deed. And they knew they should not be the ones to kill him, though they yearned to do so.  
  
The Duke could not believe his eyes. The Queens and former advisors were standing on the front lines, their magic ready. Then there were the five girls glowing with power. One of them, he knew, had to be the Princess. His heart beat faster. He would have to kill all of them, to be sure.  
  
Tension gathered around the battle field as each side sized up the other. The army of the Earth tried to push away their fear, but the Earth's army had mages. Nine of them. They could handle the Earthlings, but to get past the magic would be difficult. Very difficult.  
  
====================================  
  
From each of their respective planets, the Royalty of the Inner Planets watched the battle begin to fold out. The Queens, each alive and well and without an heir, began to cry as they saw their daughters. They were so proud, seeing the power each possessed, the strength of spirit they had mounted up. This was they had lost their daughters for, and they were assured the Earthen army would win. The war would end.  
  
Today.  
  
====================================  
  
"Charge!" the Duke yelled. His army sprang forth, while the Earthen army sat still. A line of fire was drawn in front of the front lines. Raye powered it, beads of sweat popping from her forehead. She threw it at the Moon's army, frightening horses and humans alike. Archers from the Earth stepped forward and lit their arrows, then fired with precise aim. Swordsmen waited for the Moon's lines to break through.  
  
Mina, who stood in the fire, threw her golden beams at the army. The first line was gone. The second came and fell as well.  
  
The fire reflected in the Duke's eyes. He watched his army fall at the hands of the mages and could not believe it. How? How could this have happened?  
  
Haruka ran through the flames and sliced through the army. Her magic was concentrated and practiced. She slowed for seconds to yell at the Duke.  
  
"She is here, Braeden, and she will kill you!"  
  
Then she was gone, slicing away again.  
  
Black colored magic in ribbons wove through the army, flowing from Hotaru's glaive. She stood in the fire as well, pushing her magic through. Setsuna stood beside her, purple globes flying from the tip of her staff. Michiru reflected the army's evil back at them, her blue magic hitting them and making them fall.  
  
Lita's lightening struck with aim like no other. She took soldiers left and right. Her anger and strength pulsed through her, fueling her. They would win! They would!  
  
Amy's rain blinded the Moon's soldiers as it beat hard upon the battle field. She was never one to get angry, she had the patience of a god, but now she could take no more. This was for Greg, may she find him somewhere soon.  
  
Serena watched, but kept out. She walked through the flames, intent on seeing the face of the man on a horse. She looked closer and closer, something drawing her to do it. The voices whispered, though would not let her hear the words they said. Finally, the firelight illuminated his face, his long white hair and blood colored eyes. She fell to the ground and screamed. Long and loud. Her mind traveled backwards to the pain she had felt the morning of the Queen's death.  
  
Words burst from one voice of the Moon. Pictures flashed behind her eyes. A gleaming silver knife, a white silk dress covered in scarlet blood, an evil sneering face. Braeden's face.  
  
She fell into the pictures and into the sound of her scream. She tumbled through darkness until she came to a bright silver light, burning at her eyes. She had never felt so lost in her power. In front of her it seemed like a mirror. The Queen of the Moon, the front of her dress coated in blood, looked at Serena.  
  
"Serenity, Serena for short," she said. Her voice echoed and faded with every word. "My daughter. The pain you felt was real. It was my pain." She touched her heart, where the knife had pierced her. "He caused it."  
  
Serena's eyes snapped open and the Queen disappeared. The flames were no longer around her. The rain no longer fell. The soldiers had stopped midfight to stare at her. She silenced her scream. No longer could she feel the ground because she was floating above it. She looked around realizing what this field was full of.  
  
Wildflowers.  
  
Thunder rumbled around them.  
  
Dusk began to fall. Stars sat behind her, the sun in front of her. It was not night, it was not day. It was both.  
  
She turned her gaze to the duke, and her silver aura flared even brighter.  
  
"You killed her," she whispered and the entire battle field heard her. "You killed the Queen of the Moon!"  
  
The Duke's eyes widened as his army turned to glare at him. Could they believe this girl?  
  
"Do you deny it?" Serena yelled.  
  
The Duke scowled at her. This was her. The long-lost Princess. Just another royal to kill. He did not deny anything, but kept silent. His army fell back as he drew his sword.  
  
"Do not speak of what you do not know, child!" he yelled.  
  
She narrowed her eyes. "But I do know! I felt the pain, I saw the blood! You murdered her cold for the power! It wasn't yours to take, Lynalia! It is my power."  
  
"Blasphemy!" He pointed his sword at her. "You accuse the ruler of this planet of murder! For that you will die!"  
  
He spurred his horse forward at the floating girl, the lost Princess. Time moved slower as everyone watched.  
  
She put her palm out to him, and there a saber grew of power. Her hair grew longer and as it did silver was painted from root to end. On her forward a crescent moon sprang forth in a burst of magic. She pointed the sharp end of her saber at him, and waited. Horse hooves hit the ground, thumping harder and harder. Her rhyme, her destiny, was being yelled in her ears.  
  
"This is the place among the wildflowers,  
  
Where your hopes and dreams have blooms,  
  
Where night and day have become only one,  
  
And Lita's thunder booms,  
  
Where you have found your inner self,  
  
And your own magic too,  
  
Your identity has been revealed,  
  
Your hair has become silver true!"  
  
The Duke raised his sword upwards, then brought it swinging down at her head. She was quicker and her saber struck him first. It pushed through his chest, his pupils became smaller in shock.  
  
She pushed it in harder until his face was next to hers. She looked into his crimson eyes, the evil and hate bubbling behind them. Greed lined his soul.  
  
"You will torture my people no longer."  
  
The saber dissipated, and Lynalia slumped back on his horse. Serena's feet touched the ground and she turned away from him. She turned to face the night where the Earth was rising. Her friends and Darien stood in front of it. Their faces golden as the remaining sun disappeared. She walked quickly over to Darien and he dismounted his horse. She looked into his eyes, miniatures of his Earth, and fell in. She threw her arms around his neck and pushed her lips hard against his.  
  
Her new life began now.  
  
Author's Note: It took long again, didn't it? Well, really I wrote this all in one night, it just took a bunch of nights before I could do it. Please review. Should I do another chapter or an epilogue, or just leave it now? Hmm? Hmm?  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	15. Epilogue

She stood on the stone balcony, somewhere her mother could have very well stood on a similar evening to watch the sun disappear. It was strange, this feeling. Is this what is like to have no worries for the moment? No longer did she have to worry about lighting lanterns, hiding in trees, running from the evil.   
  
Now that Serena thought about it, her tale was quite extraordinary. It had been months since that final battle, since her life turned into the light it should have always had. She'd found about her heritage, she'd met the doctor who had delivered her. She learned from the four Queens how hard it had been for her mother to give her up. How her mother had cried many, many nights afterwards. She was told how the Queen had rejoiced after seeing her eight-year-old daughter. And how she had always known what would   
  
happen and had silently waited for her murder.  
  
It was a lot to take in, but she did not have to go through it alone. Her friends had discovered their royal blood as well. They and their families were in this very palace, waiting for Serena to come so the celebration could begin. Serena was alone on the balcony, overlooking her new kingdom. It was amazing to know all was at her hands. She would never abuse this power, never ask for more. She had learned of a crystal, the Imperium Silver Crystal, that was locked away awaiting her should she ever need it.  
  
"It came," Setsuna had told her, "from one of your mother's very tears. Many years ago, the night after she had given you up. She lay crying, mourning. For not only had she lost your father, but she had given you up. And from her mourning came this crystal of great power."  
  
After weeks of chaos as news spread and people were freed, Serena had been introduced. Many doubted who she was, but those who had laid eyes upon the Queen did not. It was as if their Queen had come back to life. She had been moved into this palace, and when she finally did take her throne, she had to say good-bye to the men from Earth who had helped her so.  
  
Her heart beat quickened. Darien would be here tonight, celebrating. And rightfully so. She owed very much to him. The Moon owed very much to him.   
  
Now the sun was gone and she left the balcony. She hurried from her bedroom, down the guarded halls, and finally to behind a curtain. She took a deep breath as she straightened her elegant dress. Then she was announced.   
  
She stepped from the darkened room, into the well-lit ballroom. Royalty and nobility stood in everywhere dotted by people from the life Serena had led. Greg stood by Amy's side. He had been hiding in the cellar of one of the Moonrisen families. Ken held Lita's hand. He looked quite thin for he had spent two months in one of the camps. Chad, who could barely keep his eyes off Raye, had been in the same camp. Andrew, who had fled to the Earth, was now back and with Mina in the front of the crowd.  
  
And finally, her parents and Sammy stood, looking very nervous, by the string quartette. They seemed fidgety, like they felt out of place. Serena felt the very same.  
  
The music began and couples broke off. Ballgowns swirled all around, glittering in the light of the chandliers. Serena felt terribly alone sitting in her throne. She watched her friends and family smile and dance. She thought all she could do was watch.  
  
She was wrong.  
  
"May I have this dance, Serena?" Serena followed the hand in front of her up to a shoulder, then to a face. Darien's face.   
  
"Yes, you certainly may," she said, slipping her delicate hand into his strong one. He helped her from her throne, guiding her down the steps in front of it. He then turned to her, placing his hand on her lower back. She bit her lip, trying to remember the dancing lessons that had been drilled into her for this very moment. She tried not to watch her feet, just to trust them. Darien was very good at leading, however, and she need not worry.  
  
"Was it hard adapting to your new life?" he asked her.  
  
"Very. I never knew there were so many rules to living this way. I'm sure you understand."  
  
He smiled. "Yes. Many useless rules." He nodded towards her friends. "How have they taken it?"  
  
"Oh very well. They slipped into it easier than I did." She frowned. "They're also very happy to meet their families. Fathers and mothers. Lita even has a little brother."  
  
He looked down at her, sympathy in his eyes. "You're jealous of them. You have every right to be."  
  
A tear rolled from the corner of her eye. "I have no one to help me through this. No mother to get advice from, no father to dance with. I'm the last of the royalty."  
  
Darien stopped their dance and took her behind the curtain, away from the crowds so they could not see their Queen in a time of weakness. There he held her, her tears falling onto him. He kissed the top of her head.  
  
"I will help you, Serena. I'll stay."   
  
She looked up at him. "You'll stay?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Thank you." She pushed onto her tip toes to kiss him. It was not their first kiss, nor would it be their last. She let all her problems go then, and let Darien's essence surround her. His hands wove through her hair, holding her softly. She kept her arms wrapped tight around him, never would she let him go. Her tears finally stopped. His lips became her world.   
  
She pulled away from their kiss as a thought sprung into her mind. "How long will you stay?"  
  
He looked down at her. "As long as it takes."  
  
"What if that isn't long enough?"  
  
He smiled, wiped her last tears away with his thumb, and kissed the ring finger on her left hand.  
  
"Then I'll stay forever."  
  
  
  
Author's Note: It's finished. Which is part sad, part happy. That thing about the silver crystal you know isn't true, but since we don't really know where it came from, I figured I'd put my own theory in. No harm done right? Please review.  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


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